Lightest quality dip net?

I own about 5 dip nets for bass fishing, and actually use different ones in different situations depending upon the type of fish I expect to catch. But when I have to fish a tournament by myself (we have 15 boaters and 2 non-boaters who fish most of our club events), I sometimes find it hard to net a real quality fish while holding my rod, especially if it's something like a 5 lb. smallmouth. My go-to net for bigger, hard-fighting bass is a 48 inch model with the "twine" net and aluminum handle. It's not all that heavy, but a problem is that my agility at handling the net one-handed has to be top notch. Where we fish, if I hook a lunker largemouth the chances are the water will be so dirty that I won't be able to see the fish--even know how deep in the water it is--until it rolls or jumps right at the boat. With lunker smallmouths, I may see them 10 feet down, but they make so many surges right at the boat that it's extremely dangerous to reel them up on a short line--so I have to try to get them quick when they reach the top, before they can take off again or jump and throw the hook.

Looking for the lightest net made, so long as the handle is at least 36-40 inches, and preferably a snag proof net material. Anything out there made of carbon fiber, for instance? I only missed one fish at the boat this year that cost me a win, but I try to control what I can on the water, and 1-handed netting is sometimes more excitement than I can stand.

EGO is the way to go for nets IMO. Personally, I fish 90%+ of the time by myself, including tournaments, and I never use a net anymore. Took awhile to learn the best way to approach each situation. I feel like I lost more fish trying to handle a net by myself than I do just not using one. That's all personal preference though. For team tournaments, EGO is my preference.

EGO is the way to go for nets IMO. Personally, I fish 90%+ of the time by myself, including tournaments, and I never use a net anymore. Took awhile to learn the best way to approach each situation. I feel like I lost more fish trying to handle a net by myself than I do just not using one. That's all personal preference though. For team tournaments, EGO is my preference.

Interesting you would say that, because my buddy who fished team smallmouth tourneys with me for 15 years now goes without a net whenever he fishes alone. We belly land bass whenever we are pre fishing, but I'm still leery about some situations, like really light line, treble hook lures, etc. One handed netting is a royal pain, though.

Interesting you would say that, because my buddy who fished team smallmouth tourneys with me for 15 years now goes without a net whenever he fishes alone. We belly land bass whenever we are pre fishing, but I'm still leery about some situations, like really light line, treble hook lures, etc. One handed netting is a royal pain, though.

It takes a while to get confidence in doing it, but now I seriously do land more fish than I did trying to net them by myself. I also fish some tournaments that don't allow using a net, so decided I should go ahead and get used to it. I flip most fish in the boat since I catch most of my fish on heavy line and hooks/jigs. In tournaments, I try to make myself go down and land anything 3+ with my hands. I throw a lot of spooks, squarebills, and some crankbaits too and trebles are my least favorite situation to deal with because it's easy for them to get off and I've been hooked past the barb. The best thing to do is let them tire themselves out before you ever try to land them, then when they start to calm down, grab the line to make sure you keep tension on the line when you try to land them and grab them in the safest location for you. I prefer to lift them out by their bellies because they don't flop around when you do that. With a jig/worm or with light line drop shot/shaky head/etc, I try to lip them. Whatever method you use, get them in the boat as fast as possible, so they don't have an opportunity to flop or slip out of your hands.

I fished by myself in club tournaments for a number of years. As long as the net is aluminum and has a decent handle length, it should work fine. To me, the trick is to put the net in a place that I can easily get it with one hand and, at the same time, put it in a place where it won't get tangled with other rods or crankbait hooks.

Half the world's problems are caused by people not doing their jobs and the other half is caused by people minding someone else's business.

Ego nets are very nice, and you can modify them to fit your needs as far as heads and other attachments go. They are light, float and collapse to take up less space in the boat. One handed extraction is easy as well.